Graduation Celebration

A couple of weekends ago, I went into town on Saturday morning.  I returned around 2 pm to my host family telling me to hurry up and get changed so that I could accompany them to a graduation celebration.  Mpume and Mayasi are educators at our village primary school.  They said the party couldn’t officially start until they were there to walk in with the graduates.  When we arrived (very late) two women were singing and dancing up front, the rest of the people joining in.  The sound system was so loud that I think my eardrums might still be ringing.  They must have been going for at least an hour before we got there and it continued for at least an hour more.  In between songs there were often chants such as, “Give me a J-J, Give me an E-E, Give me an S-S, Give me a U-U, Give me an S-S…JESUS!”  Yes, I am completely serious.  Finally, the ceremony started. The two university graduates danced in and the speeches began.  South Africans love speeches.  After about an hour of speeches, food was served.  At ceremonies, food is always served at the end.  People then eat it in record time and then leave even faster.  Seriously, it is like a disappearing act. I look up from my food and everyone is gone.  All in all, it was a fun event and I got to talk to several interesting people in my village!